Tanzania’s Exim bank to open branch in Zambia

The central bank [BoT] has allowed Exim Bank Tanzania to open more subsidiaries outside the country as part of the latter’s expansion plan that will be in Djibouti and Zambia, managing director Sabetha Mwambenja said yesterday in Dar es Salaam.

She made the revelations when announcing the bank’s last year performance, which included an increase of 20.14 per cent of total assets to Sh584 billion from Sh486 billion in 2008.

The bank already operates in the Comoros where it has two branches. It is the only local bank that currently operates outside Tanzania.

“We have obtained a business license from the Bank of Tanzania to operate subsidiary branches in Djibouti and Zambia. This is to pursue our goal of being a regional bank,” Ms Mwambenja told journalists at a press briefing.

She said the new external operations would officially commence in June this year.

Ms Mwambenja also said that the bank plans to introduce a special housing finance programme for its staff in the next three months. It will be known as E-MPOWER.

On last year’s performance, she said Exim recorded a pre-tax profit increase of 13.29 per cent from Sh15.8 billion in 2008 to Sh18 billion.

The bank expects the performance to improve further this year despite troubles of the national economy emanating from the global financial and economic crisis.

“We have positioned well to overcome the last years challenges, and we hope our total assets will reach about Sh1 trillion by the end of this year,” she said.

The bank’s total deposit base grew by 27.97 per cent to Sh478 billion from Sh373.5 billion during the review period. Its loans and advances went up by 28.78 per cent to Sh264 billion last year from Sh205 billion posted in the previous year.
THE CITIZEN